CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Residents in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, which has developed a reputation in recent years as a bastion of the local-food movement, say they are fighting to keep fast-food giant McDonald's from opening a franchise on a site abutting a residential street that they say would endanger pedestrians with its busy drive-through and undermine what the West Side enclave represents.

The corporation's preliminary plans call for one of its restaurants currently on Detroit Road in Cleveland's Gordon Square Arts District to be relocated to Lorain Avenue, between Fulton Road and West 38th Street. If McDonald's has its way, the 4,200-square-foot restaurant will feature a parking lot with 18 spaces and, most contentiously, double drive-through lanes and a driveway that empties onto West 38th.

Opponents gathered Friday afternoon near the intersection, brandishing signs in protest of the project. A banner stretched across a fence on the property declared, "McDonald's is bad for children and other living things." Cars honked and flashed headlights in response to signs reading: "Honk for local foods," "McD = Traffic, Litter + Noise," and "Ohio City is NOT loving it!" -- a play on the corporation's own catchphrase.

McDonald's wouldn't be the neighborhood's first fast-food restaurant. A Wendy's restaurant has operated for decades a few blocks east on Lorain Road across from St. Ignatius High School.

But the Wendy's is surrounded by commercial property, not residential. And residents say that the nature of the McDonald's menu and what it has come to symbolize conflicts with the philosophy of a neighborhood that prides itself on being the home of the historic West Side Market and numerous urban agricultural initiatives. Also, they contend, the restaurant would be disruptive to residents whose homes stand mere feet from the site and would force children on their way to school and nearby Greenwood Park to dodge drive-through traffic.

"The thought of it is a nightmare," said Debbie Webb, a longtime resident of West 38th Street and the organizer of the protest. "I cannot think of a business that would be worse for pedestrians than McDonald's."

The property, most recently the site of a Hollywood Video store, sits in a shopping district with zoning restrictions designed to preserve the "pedestrian-oriented character" of the neighborhood and minimize vehicular hazards to those on foot.

Because the zoning law prohibits drive-through entrances and exits on Lorain Avenue, the McDonald's design routes its driveways onto Fulton and West 38th.

Last week, however, Cleveland City Council passed legislation barring drive-throughs altogether in the district unless the business conducts a traffic study demonstrating that fewer than 50 percent of its customers will use the drive-through and that the anticipated volume of traffic will not pose a risk to pedestrians.

Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, who opposes the project and represents the area of Ohio City just north and east of the location, said he hopes that the added restriction will make it impossible for the corporation to satisfy the zoning requirements.

On Thursday, the city's zoning review board rejected McDonald's most recent design, on the grounds that driveways would be too close to property lines. The ruling also noted that the plan requires a greater landscape buffer, and the drive-through lane, as designed, could leave cars backed up onto the street during peak hours.

McDonald's can appeal the ruling.

Cimperman said a protracted legal battle probably looms ahead, and he hopes residents' concerns aren't lost in the debate.

"If the people who live on this street will be as negatively impacted as they predict, we should listen to them," Cimperman said. "They're concerned about the noise and how close it will be. The street is so tight. It would feel like a super-sized order of french fries stuffed into a value-sized packet."

It's unclear why the restaurant plans to relocate from Gordon Square. Franchisee Ken McCoy declined to comment Friday, stating only that those decisions are made by the corporation.

McDonald's Communications Director Nicole Curtin said in an interview Friday that building new restaurants and relocating are both in the course of normal business for the company, and that many factors weigh into those decisions. She said that McDonald's is aware of the dissent among some Ohio City residents, but she declined to elaborate on the company's strategy for dealing with opposition.

City Councilman Matt Zone, who represents the Gordon Square District and the portion of Ohio City where the new McDonald's is proposed, said in an interview Friday that he would reserve his judgment about the project until after a Dec. 11 community meeting at Franklin Circle Christian Church on Fulton Road. During the meeting, residents' concerns will be heard by city leaders and a representative from McDonald's corporate offices.

Zone said he believes McDonald's might need a variance but has generally met the zoning requirements. He said he sympathizes with the concerns of Ohio City residents and added that many Gordon Square residents who enjoyed having a McDonald's on Detroit Avenue are upset to see it go.

But Zone said that it makes sense for the corporation to want to abandon its 50-year-old restaurant on Detroit for a new facility in an area that receives more traffic.

If the deal proceeds, Zone said he would insist that the building McDonald's leaves behind in the Gordon Square neighborhood is razed and the property primed for redevelopment.

The Ohio City protesters contend that Zone is selling them out to encourage development in Gordon Square, a rising arts and entertainment district largely considered the gem of his ward.

"I love Matt Zone," said resident Debbie Webb. "He's a good councilman, and it's disappointing that he hasn't come out strongly opposed to this plan. But ward boundaries are about to be redrawn, and this most likely will not be his ward next year. It won't be his problem."

The McDonald's plan must win approval from several panels, including the Ohio City Review Commission and the city's planning and landmarks commissions.

Meanwhile, Ken Silliman, chief of staff for Mayor Frank Jackson, said in an interview Friday that the mayor joins Cimperman in opposing the relocation.

Longtime West 38th Street resident Mike Fiala said that to many onlookers, the issue might seems innocuous -- another fast-food place setting up shop in an urban setting. But Fiala, who has lived on the street for 30 years, invites anyone seeking a little perspective to visit his home, which he says sits close enough to the proposed drive-through window that he could order an Egg McMuffin from his front yard.

"We're trying to humanize it and be serious about our opposition to it," Fiala said. "But they aren't paying very good attention to our needs ... McDonald's represents the destruction of community life and the fabric of West 38th Street. There is no way this city can consider the overall pervasive effect of a McDonald's and say it's OK."

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